Presumptive US Democratic
presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks during a rally in
Washington, DC. on July 14, 2016. (AFP photo)

US
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has called for an
“intelligence surge” in the war against terrorist groups, following the
terror attack in Nice, France, that left at least 84 people dead and
dozens more injured.
“One
of my priorities is to launch an intelligence surge, we still do not
have enough intelligence cooperation between our agencies in other
countries, including in Europe, and we need to have a focal point,”
Clinton said in an interview with the Fox News television channel on
Thursday.
The former secretary
of state stressed the need for strengthening NATO and further
collaboration with the European Union countries as well as other US
allies to share information on potential terrorist attacks.
Clinton
made the remarks after at least 84 people lost their lives and over 100
others sustained injuries when a truck armed with guns and grenades
rammed into a crowd of people celebrating the French National Day,
commonly known as Bastille Day, in the southern French city of Nice on
Thursday night.
“What is
happening is terrorist groups are seeing that they have opportunities
inside France for homegrown terrorism and supporting terrorists,” she
said.
Shortly after the attack,
the presumptive Democratic nominee issued a statement on Twitter,
saying, “Every American stands in strong solidarity with the people of
France, and we say with one voice: we will not be intimidated. We will
never allow terrorists to undermine the egalitarian and democratic
values that underpin our very way of life.”
No
group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the attack,
where reports by US officials confirmed the death of two American
citizens without specifying their identities.

Meanwhile,
former Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz said in a
statement that Europe is in constant danger from radical terrorist
groups like Daesh (ISIL).
France
is reeling from yet another major attack apparently carried out by
radical terrorists, Cruz said. We must “redouble our attacks” on the
ISIL strongholds in Iraq and Syria, he noted.
The
Daesh terrorists were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012
and were tasked with destabilizing the Syrian government. Today, they
control swathes of land in Iraq and Syria.

Daesh militants in Syria (file photo)

The
Takfiri terrorist group has been committing vicious crimes against all
ethnic and religious communities in Iraq and Syria, including Shias,
Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and others.
In
2014, the US and some of its allies started conducting airstrikes in
Iraq and neighboring Syria against Daesh terrorists, but observers say
the attacks have done little damage to the terrorists; rather, they have
targeted the two countries’ infrastructure.